Hello again! I am working this summer, and moving in two weeks, so I wouldn't expect too many updates for a while. Sorry! But it's not being abandoned. Not even a hiatus. Just... Bear with me, kay? Grazie.
Enjoy!
Leo spent the entire night hammering out a body for Festus. He was so close to Calypso, he could smell it.
The shell of the body finished, he threaded the massive internals of wires through the body. The dragon still needed finishings to make him look handsome. Gods, that dragon was vain.
He checked his watch. Two o'clock. He wasn't tired, on a high of machinery and nervousness for Percy. He had four hours before visiting hours started and he could accompany Percy home. No way was he letting Percy outta someone's sight until the two warring drugs were out of his system.
His back, arms, and legs were aching, but he dismissed them. Festus was almost finished. He walked outside, careful to avoid any possible harpies on patrol. He had put a "breathing" mannequin on his bed and locked the door, but they could still catch him here. How'd he lock his door? Counselor perks.
He severed the connection between the figurehead and the Argo II and hoisted Festus' head in his arms. Whereas he used to have to put heavy things on a dolly, his wiry arms were way more muscular. Maybe not Frank-esque, but getting closer to Piper. The scale went Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and Frank. Yep, Hazel was stronger than Jason. The arm wrestling contest had gone pretty badly for Jason. Leo sucked epically, though.
He was interrupted from his musings by a sudden arrival at Bunker Nine. How'd he get there so fast? ADHD? Strange. He set his hand on fire and pushed open the door, supporting Festus in one hand. He thumped Festus' head on the table and could swear that the teeth moved to a growling position. He winked at it, just to be sure.
Grabbing one of the long black snakelike wires coiled inside of the body, he stripped the insulation off of the end. He twisted it around one of Festus' neural conduits, strapping it to a long metal platform extending to the eye. He repeated this with the remaining wires, creating a maze of color.
He wrapped a long piece of plastic around the final wire and melted the edges together. He laid the insulated piece against the final metal strip. Standing a safe distance back, he concentrated a burst of fire to melt the insulation. Unprotected, the electricity flowed freely and Festus shuddered to life.
He turned around, shaking the cavern. His tail swept a pile of wrenches off the shelf. Leo ducked as it whistled over his head.
"Whoa, boy!" Leo shouted. "I just brought Your Freaking Highness back to life, okay? Don't kill me!"
Festus stopped short.
Creak?
"Yes, me."
A sound that sounded quite a bit like laughing.
"I fixed you all on my lonesome," Leo said, irritated. "And I can deactivate you just as fast-"
A series of urgent clicks. Leo grinned in satisfaction.
"Didn't think so. Now, sit."
Meekly, the dragon sat. Leo nodded approvingly.
"Good boy."
Percy and Leo walked up the hill towards Camp Half-Blood. Percy was breathing heavily. Leo had his hand secretly behind Percy's back, ready to catch him if he fell. He didn't think Percy would appreciate the sentiment, though. Something about the pride thing tipped Leo off.
They crossed the border. It was early afternoon, about one o'clock. The sun was high in the sky. Puffy cumulus clouds sat squat and heavy on the sky like a flat-bottomed boat on a clear lake. A breeze made its way through the thick, late August air.
They reached the top of the hill. "Thanks for walking with me," Percy said. "I'm going to go find Annabeth."
"'Kay," Leo said, but he kept his eye on Percy until the latter disappeared into the Athena cabin. Then, he went off to find Festus. The stupid dragon had kept him all night and much of the morning doing stupid tasks as opposed to upgrades. How the heck was he supposed to get the stupid dragon to Ogygia if all the dang automaton cared about was the color of his scales?
Festus was admiring himself in front of the mirror, same as he had been when Leo had left an hour earlier.
"You are the single most vain creature I have ever met in my entire life," Leo said, disgusted. "You're worse than Drew."
Creak, click, squeak.
"Yes, you look wonderful. It helps that you have a body. Now, if you don't shut up, I'm going to deactivate you until I'm done doing upgrades. You and I are going to Ogygia."
Creak?
Leo couldn't help but grin. "Only the most beautiful goddess ever. And she has a bad case of the Leos, lemme tell ya."
That laughing noise again.
"I mean it!" Leo said, annoyed. "You'll see. Seriously."
The dragon rolled around on the floor. He sounded like an old rusty door. Leo smacked out a hand and deactivated him.
"Good," Leo murmured, satisfied. "Stupid dragon." He shook his head fondly and set about his tasks.
Percy opened the door of the Athena cabin and peeked in. Annabeth was sitting in a tiny huddle on her bed, holding a book upside down and pretending to read.
"Hey, Annie," Percy said. "What's wrong?"
Annabeth's head shot up. Upon seeing Percy, she screamed.
"Travis! This is not funny!"
She burst into tears.
Percy blinked.
"Annie?"
"Connor! I will kill you! This is not a joke! I hate you!"
"Annie!"
"Get away from me! What are you?"
"Your boyfriend."
"No, you aren't! He's dead!"
"He is not – what?"
"He's dead! He died last night! He had a heart attack and flipping died, okay? What are you, really? A hologram? What?"
"Annabeth! I'm not dead! Who told you that I was dead?"
"Leo! He called me from the hospital! And I am not having this conversation with a hologram! Go back to Connor and slap him in the face, assuming you have substance!"
Percy watched, dumbfounded, as Annabeth drew herself back into the tiny ball and wept.
"Annabeth, I'm real."
"You are not," she sobbed, raising her head. "You are not Percy. Go away!"
Percy grabbed her and smashed her into a kiss.
He felt Annabeth stiffen in his arms, and then soften again. He pulled away and looked her in the eye.
"It was a misunderstanding, Annabeth. I was there when Leo called. He said, 'Percy had a heart attack. He's not coming home.' He meant that I had to stay overnight, not that I was dead."
Annabeth's eyes filled with hope.
"Percy?" she whispered.
Percy raised an eyebrow.
"Seaweed Brain," she sobbed, hugging him so tightly, he fell onto the bed.
"Oof," Percy said, muffled.
Annabeth pulled away. She gestured to her throat. Teeth gritted, she said, "I am going to kill him with my bare hands. I will take him by the throat and rip out his esophagus-"
"Annie!" Percy cried, in shocked amusement.
"I mourned all night for my living boyfriend! He's dead!"
"Annabeth," Percy sighed, "For the last time, I am not dead."
"Not you," she ground out. "Him!"
In her maroon sweatpants and baggy white t-shirt, she stomped barefoot out the door. Percy hurried after her.
Hazel looked up from the dining pavilion where she had been sitting with the other four of the Seven since breakfast, none of them really feeling the motivation to move. She saw a figure in dark purple sweatpants stomp across the pavilion. And hurrying after her, calling her name, was-
"Percy!" she gasped, hands flying to her throat. "Oh my gods, it's Percy!"
"Hazel," Jason said tiredly, "This is not funny…"
"No, look!" she said, pointing. "It's Percy!"
Piper twisted slowly in her seat and sucked in her breath sharply. "She's right," she said. "And Annabeth is going to kill Leo."
Frank's head shot up. "He's really not dead?" he asked, hope tinging his voice.
"No!" Piper shouted. "Leo screwed up!"
"Let's go," Jason said, already half out of his seat.
When they reached Bunker Nine, the fireworks had already started. Annabeth had Leo out in the front of the bunker on his knees.
"I thought he was dead, you- you-" The language changed. "Egó̱ tha sas vasanízo̱ zo̱ntanós kai trofodotoún ta apokómmata tou dérmatós sas gia ta skyliá apó ta pedía! Ta korákia tha giortí̱ gia ti̱ sárka sas kai sti̱ synécheia na anamasoún af̱tó kai tha prépei na gínei synoliká, étsi boró̱ na to káno̱ kai páli! Misó̱ , Leo Valdez , sas - sas - eseís - Áarnk!"
Perched in a tree, Percy cracked up.
"What?" Piper whispered. "What did she say?"
No one had any clue.
The language changed again.
"Lekh la'azazel vitavi li kabala!" she screamed, and slapped him across the face.
"Language, Annie," Percy said amusedly. "It was just a mistake."
"Some mistake!" she cried. She grabbed him by the throat. "Think before you speak!" she yelled, shaking him hard. She released him and stormed away. Leo fell backward, gasping and massaging his throat. Red finger marks showed on his cheeks and neck.
Percy jumped nimbly from the tree. "I assume you thought I was dead, too?" he asked the four watchers.
Hazel burst into tears and hugged him tightly.
"I'll take that as a yes," Percy choked.
Leo stumbled over. "What did I do?"
Piper spun to face him. "Tell me word for word what you said to Annabeth last night," she demanded.
"'Percy had a heart attack. He's not coming home,'" Leo recited.
Piper waited.
"Soy un idiota," Leo breathed.
"I'll say," Piper smarted.
Frank and Jason did that stupid man-hug thing with Percy (because real men don't hug) and then stepped back. They stood awkwardly for a second, half staring at Percy and half looking anywhere but at him.
Percy looked at himself self-consciously. "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, someone bleeped up my medicine. Wrecked my blood system. I'll be fine," he hastened to assure them.
Hazel moved to change the subject, feeling the weirdness of the conversation intensify.
"What did Annabeth say?"
"'I will whip you to shreds and feed the remains to the dogs!' Um..." He stuttered for a second, but then regained his place. "'The crows will feast on your flesh and then vomit it up and you will be whole again so that I can so it again!' And then she said, 'I hate you,' and spluttered a bit."
"And what did she say after that?"
"Go to hell and bring back a receipt!"
"In what language?"
"First Greek, then Hebrew."
"You speak Hebrew?" Frank asked, astonished.
"She learns languages when she's under stress. It calms her down, and she needed someone to practice on, so I picked them up from her. I'm surprised you didn't notice; she did it all through the Giant War."
"So what do you speak?" asked Jason, awed.
Percy ticked them off on his fingers. "What you guys speak, Hebrew, and Japanese. Dunno why. She liked them. And I just kind of picked them up."
"Sick," Leo breathed, and everyone jumped. They had forgotten he was there.
"You have to apologize to Annabeth."
"Not now, she'll kill me!"
"Now," Jason ordered.
Leo protested a bit more, but when Hazel drew her spatha, Leo broke into a dead run.
When he reached the Athena cabin, Annabeth was pacing back and forth. Leo stopped and hid in the doorway. She was snarling harsh words in a different language under her breath and sending chalk dust flying while furiously scratching battle plans on a blackboard. Unfortunately, many of them seemed to include Bunker Nine and the Hephaestus cabin.
Leo squeaked and ducked back out, but Annabeth heard him. She stomped out and grabbed Leo's collar, effectively choking him - again. "You," she snarled, "are the most insufferable, intolerable jerk ever."
Leo gestured frantically to his throat, but Annabeth wasn't done. "No tact! No thoughts! No brain! You told me my boyfriend was dead and I mourned him all night when he was in fact lying awake forty miles and a few train stations away from here! What's wrong with you?" She shook him.
Leo squeaked. His eyes watered. Annabeth threw him to the floor in disgust and stomped off to her closet. Emerging with a bathrobe slung over one arm, she said, "I am going to take a shower. Get out of my sight." She stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door. Leo remained gasping on the floor like a fish for a moment, trying to figure out how to get back on her good side.
Suddenly-
Inspiration!
"She's not going to be in the mood for a date, Leo," Percy said tiredly. "She's pissed off, she's tired, she's worn out, and she's furious."
"You haven't been on a date all summer," Leo countered. "I think she'll be happy to spend some quality time." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Percy gave him a halfhearted swat. "Where am I taking her, O Lord of the Date Planning?"
"Somewhere exotic," Leo answered vaguely, waving his hand in a grand gesture. "Take her overseas. Girls like that."
"And, O Lord of the Date Planning, how the heck am I supposed to get her there?" Percy asked sarcastically.
Leo grinned. "Take Festus."
Percy blinked. "You fixed him?"
Leo's smile got bigger. "I did."
"And you'll seriously let me take him?"
"Well, I have to get myself back on the Good List at some point, right? You can warm him up for me. Stretch out his wings while I fix the astrolabe and the Archimedes sphere and hook up a GPS system to take me to Ogygia."
An idea started forming in Percy's head. "Can I take him to Ukraine?"
"Sure," Leo said curiously. "What's in Ukraine?"
Percy gave a mysterious smile and headed for the Athena cabin.
Percy knocked on the bathroom door, not hearing any water running. The door was flung open, and Annabeth was standing there in a bathrobe, clutching a brush in one hand and a dagger in the other.
"Whoa," said Percy, backing away. "What's with the dagger, Wise Girl?"
Annabeth sighed and thumped it down in the counter. "I wanted to give Leo a clear idea of what was about to happen to him."
Percy smiled and leaned against the doorpost. "You have him a nice bruise."
Annabeth smiled ruefully. "I did, didn't I?"
Percy nodded. "But it's okay. He's too busy falling over himself to make you happy again that he's offered us Festus. We're going on a date."
"Oh, yeah?" asked Annabeth, resuming her hair-brushing. "And where are we going, precisely?"
"Ukraine," Percy answered nonchalantly.
Annabeth put the brush down and stared at him. "Percy, Russia is about to declare war on Ukraine. What could possibly be there that you want to visit?"
"I guess you'll have to find out," he answered, infuriatingly.
Annabeth sighed, but Percy could already see the sparkle of adventure growing in her eyes. He decided to push it a bit further. "We haven't been on a date all summer," he said. "Not even a quest. This has been the most boring summer of our lives." (He didn't mention the cancer thing.) "School starts in two weeks and what have we to show for the summer? Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Efes. A donut hole. We're going to Ukraine."
Annabeth applauded. "A stirring oration, sire!" she said, mimicking Wiggins, the irritating secretary of Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas. "I concede." She began to braid her wet hair.
"Good," Percy said, satisfied. "I'm going to sit on your bed and give you why-aren't-you-ready-yet looks until you're ready."
Annabeth lunged at him and he ducked out of the bathroom, grinning.
"What should I wear?" Annabeth called, standing in the closet shared by all of the Athena campers.
"Nothing fancy!" he called back, duly horrified. "Don't wear anything fancy! Wear something comfortable, like something you'd wear, to... say, walk through a forest!"
Annabeth stifled a laugh. "What forest are we going to?" she asked, rummaging through her section.
"Forest? Forest? We're not going to a forest. Did I say anything about a forest?"
"Okay, which forest aren't we going to?"
"All of them. Uh... Yeah, all of them."
"We aren't going to all of the forests?"
"No, how could we possibly go to all of the forests?"
"All of the - Percy, this conversation stopped making sense a long time ago."
"You're talking with me! Since when does anything I say make sense?" he scoffed.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Keep doing that!" Percy called from the other room. "Maybe you'll eventually find a brain back there!"
Annabeth whipped around to leave the closet and kill Percy, but then she stopped. Something wasn't right. "Percy, how did you know I rolled my eyes?"
"I know you," he answered in a duh sort of tone. "That's the Seaweed Brain roll. You also have the exasperated roll, the I-hate-my-teacher roll, Leo's-a-pain-in-the-rear-end roll, and the I-still-can't-beat-my-boyfriend-in-a-swordfight-after-almost-six-years roll."
"I can too!" Annabeth shouted good-naturedly.
"Cough, cough, delusional, cough, cough," he answered.
Annabeth picked up her dagger and crept from the closet. Percy was lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She crept closer. Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "Annie?" he called, sitting upright.
Annabeth jumped on top of him and they tumbled to the floor. They wrestled for a few moments, but it was clear that with her knife, Annabeth had the upper hand. The match ended with Percy on his back, Annabeth pinning him, her dagger at his throat. "Okay, you win," he grumbled. Annabeth nodded in satisfaction and tumbled off. "But only because I didn't have a weapon," he finished, knocking the dagger out of Annabeth's hand and pouncing on her.
They rolled around on the floor, bumping into desks, chairs, chests, suitcases, and beds. After a long match, though, Percy was the victor, arm pressed against Annabeth's throat. "I win," he crowed.
"Fine," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "You win."
"Good," said Percy, bouncing up and down on the bed, where he had replaced himself. "Hurry up and get dressed. I want to go to Ukraine."
They made a gorgeous couple, Percy and Annabeth both bedecked in the grandeur of a tshirt and jeans, Annabeth's long braid swinging down her back. They walked through the camp, emanating power and brilliance. Heads turned to see the golden couple, off to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what.
They reached the hill, where Leo was cowering behind Festus. Black and blue finger marks stood out prominently on his neck. He squeaked in fear as they got closer. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to kill you, Leo. I'm over the shock. Now I'm just going to hate you for awhile."
Leo relaxed. "Oh, good."
Percy made a circle around Festus. "So, how are we getting to Ukraine?"
Leo's eyes lit up. "I hard-wired a GPS into his system. He can now take you anywhere, no steering required. Plus, he has a canopy for young lovers to be shielded from the wind so as not to mess up their, ahem, romantic moments." Annabeth smacked him. "Okay, okay, sheesh." He slapped Festus' side and a staircase descended. A very ugly staircase, mind you, but a staircase nonetheless. He bowed. "My lady, your carriage awaits."
Annabeth eyed the dragon. "Carriage?" she mumbled, ascending the stairs. Behind her, Percy winked at Leo. "Thanks," he whispered.
The dragon's wings unfurled in a very grand gesture, revealing a hideous black canopy that seemed like it might shield them from hurricane-strength winds. It was knotted and gnarled, and not at all romantic. As soon as they were inside, Percy whispered, "Ukraine makes up for this. I promise."
The dragon sailed off into the night.
Thoughts? Your reviews take thirty seconds for you, but it makes my week. Please try! I will totally respond! Thanks for reading!
Guest Reviews:
Guest: Yes, Leo is soooo dead. :)
Mak: Leo is such a numbskull. And if I told you, it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now would it?
Lori: Aw, thanks! You're the sweetest! Great comment, though: "What is air?" I'm going to steal that one.
Alaska: Yo lo hice. Sólo un poco, y yo vivo en Nuevo York.
Guest: I'm glad you like it! Keep reading!
Lily: ASAP. You got it. :)
YourFavGuest: Did it live up to your expectations? :)
Guest: Your wish is my command.
Thanks for the reviews and birthday wishes! I love you guys! Vovo out!